Nokia Lumia 930 smartphone: review and testing

According to data of the analytical center IDC, about 85% of the smartphone market is occupied by the device based on the operating system Android. This fact is resisted by Microsoft. As one of the major players in the computer industry, it tries to assert rights in the mobile market. To solve this issue in early 2014, Microsoft acquired the business of the Finnish phone industry giant Nokia. This allows it to promote the Windows Phone platform, regardless of the wishes of other vendors to install it on their mobile phones.

Traditionally smartphones from Nokia have an interesting design, good performance and excellent functionality. The situation of transition its mobile business to Microsoft also remained the same. And such a gadget was in our test lab - the new flagship smartphone Nokia Lumia 930. According to the manufacturer, it has all the advantages that can make it not only a great alternative to all devices based on the operating system Android, but also bring in the absolute leader in the market as a whole.

Smartphone Nokia Lumia 930 comes in a small, well fitted white box. It has a square shape and is made of cardboard. Traditionally for the latest devices from Microsoft the packaging differs by quite colorful printing and basic minimum technical information.

The front side of the box shows a stylish collage of devices in several colors: black, green and orange. The reverse side, besides the name of the smartphone and another colorful collage contains information about set of delivery, a list of branded services and small icons with information on the use of the processor Qualcomm Snapdragon, optics Carl Zeiss and the operating system Windows Phone.

Package content of Nokia Lumia 930 has a minimum set of elements and includes a charger, USB-cable and user manual. Also worth noting is that the smartphone has a rather large list of branded accessories that can be purchased separately.

Design and elements layout

From a design standpoint, the tested smartphone is a direct descendant of last year flagship Nokia Lumia 925. Following the corporate style, the novelty was a monolithic body, which is based on the symbiosis of glass, metal and high quality plastic.

Despite the large 5-inch screen, the smartphone has a very modest dimensions (137 x 71 x 9.8 mm) and a fairly low weight (167 g). This size makes it comfortable to use the device holding it with one hand. Also this is contributed by centrally located power button, which is on the right side edge and unlock function by double tapping the screen. In general, the ergonomics of the device is at a high level and does not cause complaints.

The model Nokia Lumia 930 is presented in four popular colors: black, white, green and orange. In our view, such a wide range of the device will pick up on any taste.

The front side of the smartphone is almost completely covered with protective glass Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It has excellent oleophobic coating, perhaps one of the best in the segment of flagship devices. Along the front panel is a thin black border of glossy plastic, which gives tangible elegance. In addition, this is accompanied by a fairly small frame around the screen, which consists of: top of 11 mm, bottom of 16 mm, and 4.5 mm at the sides.

On top of the display unit are: the logo of the manufacturer, the lens of the front camera, proximity and light sensor, as well as the hole of bspeaker. At the Bottom below the screen are three touch buttons ("Back", "Home", "Search") and a small microphone hole.

Sides of smartphone are made of anodized aluminum in gray matte color and have a slightly rough to the touch texture.

The top side has audio mini-jack 3,5 mm and tray for card Nano-SIM. It is worth noting that it is removed quite easily. On the bottom is jack micro-USB 2.0.

The right side of the device contains the volume rocker, power button and a two-level shutter of the camera, while the left has not any connectors and components.

The back side of Nokia Lumia 930 is made from high quality polycarbonate and fully painted snow-white matte color. It has a nice texture to the touch, which also well masks fingerprints. Here are the fairly large lens of 20-megapixel main camera, which is located on the sides of dual LED flash and inscriptions «PureView» and «Carl Zeiss». Slightly lower in the middle is the manufacturer's logo. In the lower right corner is a hole of multimedia speakers. And under the base of the rear wall is a built-in wireless charging module of standard Qi.

Build quality of the smartphone is on a high level. The details and design elements fit very tightly, not gaps were found. The body has excellent rigidity and copes well with moderate pressure. In attempts to twist the geometry of unit is not changed, and the display has no strains or other possible artifacts.

Display

Smartphone Nokia Lumia 930 is equipped with a 5-inch OLED-screen with technology ClearBlack, a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and a pixel density at 441 ppi. Due to this it became possible to achieved remarkable clarity and image detail.

By default, the display has excellent color reproduction with pleasant and intense colors. In addition, the user can adjust the hue and color temperature by using the relevant section of the menu.

Traditionally for this type of matrix screen the device has good contrast and wide viewing angles. Even at an acute angle the image is not fade, and remains bright and saturated, without any offsets or invert.

The display is protected by tempered glass Corning Gorilla Glass 3 against damage and scratches. In addition it has an excellent oleophobic coating. In this regard the screen virtually does not collect fingerprints. Besides the display unit of the smartphone is made using technology OGS, which is characterized by the absence of an air layer between the glass and the display, allowing you to make the picture more clear and detailed.

The backlight has high brightness and a good range of adjustment. This makes it easy to use the device as a bright sunny day, and in total darkness.

Built-in touch panel supports the recognition up to 5 simultaneous keystrokes. The screen is very sensitive and responds even to light touch, and will be processed quickly and accurately. Finger slide over the protective glass is very easy, quite pleasant and does not cause any discomfort. Thanks to high sensitivity sensor panel allows you to interact with the screen of the smartphone, even in light gloves.

Sound

Model Nokia Lumia 930 is equipped with decent multimedia speaker, which is on the back side of the case in the lower right corner. Since this side has absolutely flat shape, then this arrangement can significantly mute the sound, especially when the smartphone is on the soft surface of the display upwards.

In the rest, despite the small size, the speaker makes a good impression. It is loud and has a good, pleasant to the ear sound. In the range has the presence of high and mid frequencies. Even at maximum volume the sound is smooth, without any distortion.

The smartphone is equipped with a 3.5-mm audio connector, which allows you to connect external audio devices. In the gaming headphones Kingston HyperX Cloud sound was pretty loud and deep, and technology Dolby Virtual Sound gives it extra volume and depth.

Also there is a built in radio module that lets you listen FM-radio stations operating in the frequency range from 87.5 to 108 MHz. Traditionally to enable it you must connect a headset.

The spekaer is pretty good, moderately loud, and can provide a pleasant sound transmission. However, it is necessary to consider the quality of the service provider and phone status interlocutor.

Camera

Flagship smartphone Nokia Lumia 930 is equipped with two modules of digital cameras.

The main camera is qualitative 20-megapixel module with technology PureView, BSI-sensor size 1/2.5" and the aperture of f/2.4. Thanks to the autofocus function with support of transfer to manual mode you can instantly perform accurate sighting the shooting object. And the presence of optical image stabilization system, optics Carl Zeiss (consisting of 6 spherical lenses) and dual LED flash allows you to significantly increase the quality of the captured images. The resulting pictures please with excellent color saturation of natural colors, good contrast and excellent image detail.

The weak point in the camera is not always proper focus in low light and sometimes excessive active noise reduction system. But all this is minor compared to the quality of the recivied material.

Also the main camera of the smartphone is capable of recording high quality video in format 1080p at 30/s. It has good color and a good level of detail. Also you will be pleased by recording capability surround sound experience using technology Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 and the presence of 4 built-in microphones. Its quality is quite high and is one of the best in this class of devices.

Front camera Nokia Lumia 930 is a 1.2-megapixel unit with an aperture of f/2.4, fixed focus and fairly wide viewing angle. It supports video recording at resolution 720p at 30 f/s and is well suited for Web conferencing and implementation of Skype-calls.

The software unit that is responsible for the camera work, traditionally for the operating system Windows Phone has a minimalistic appearance and offers intuitive interface. The menu has quite a wide range of both automatic and manual settings. Here you can set the shutter speed and exposure, adjust the focus mode, set the white balance and the level of ISO. Perhaps the only drawback is the lack of full automatic «HDR» -mode. Instead it has a bracketing function with up to 5 frames and exposure range ± 0,5-2EV for manual processing.